'Kick the tyres' before buying China

When doing deals with China, it pays to be cautious.

David Cameron's first state trip to China was controversial even before he got on the plane, but all might be forgiven if the prime minister brings home the bacon in terms of trade and investment deals, says the Daily Mirror. To that end, Premier Li Kequiang's promise of Chinese cash to help build the High Speed 2 rail link would certainly "make the £46bn price tag easier for UK voters". Cameron declares himself an admirer of "the high-speed revolution" in China, says Oliver Wright in The Independent.

But any Chinese involvement in HS2 will be "highly controversial given safety concerns" following the Wenzhou crash that killed at least 40 people in 2011. "For many Chinese, the accident confirmed what they had always suspected," says Angus Foster on BBC.co.uk: that too many corners were cut in the rush to win the trophy of the world's longest high-speed network.

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